Contents

Summary

The morning of the semifinals, Kagami and Alex talk during breakfast about Tatsuya Himuro; she reassures him that he only had slight scratches, and he went back to the hotel afterwards. Alex also tells a relieved Kagami that she is sure that Tatsuya feels the same way he does—they will be able to talk later. Kagami then starts getting his basketball gear ready when he notices that his shoes have broken. He immediately calls Riko and tells her about the situation. She angrily fires back that she can’t believe he let this happen on the day of an important game. She hangs up, declaring that she doesn’t know why “boys” are all like this. Confused, Kagami muses what she meant by “boys”.

He quickly finds out, however, when he runs into Kuroko who is also looking for basketball shoes. As they search together, Kuroko finds the ones he needs, but Kagami is unable to. Inside one store, as Kagami climbs up the stairs, a young blond-haired boy vaults right over him as he is hurrying down the stairs. After hastily apologizing to Kagami, he runs out. Surprised at his agility, Kagami recognizes that he is wearing a Rakuzan jersey. Afterwards, a desperate Kagami wonders what he is going to do now. Kuroko takes out his cell phone, saying “she” is very reliable at times like this.
Meanwhile, on the subway to the arena, Riko explains the situation to the boys. Hyuuga asks if they will make it in time, and she replies she is sure they will be fine. As she steps out of the subway, the crowd roughly pushes her forward. Just before she falls, a tall, black haired boy catches her. She thanks, and he tells her she should be careful. He then addresses the Seirin boys, advising them that they should protect girls properly. As he walks away, they notice he is wearing a Rakuzan jacket.

Simultaneously, the Seirin first years discuss if they have all the items they will need during the match. They then watch flabbergasted as a muscular, dark-skinned boy consumes large quantities of food-even more food than they have ever seen Kagami eat and speculate if he is a wrestler.

At the same time, Momoi enthusiastically greets Kuroko. He apologizes for calling her out of the blue, but she assures him that she is actually quite happy. Kagami states that it is nice of her to help him, and she replies that it is no problem. Piqued, Kagami irritably asks why Aomine is here as well. Momoi then says that she has brought his shoes—since he wears the same size as Aomine (29.5 cm), she took an extra pair of Aomine’s, much to the latter’s annoyance. Kagami is surprised that she knew about his shoe size; he is even more impressed that she chose such a nice color for him. Aomine then announces that if Kagami can defeat him in a one-on-one match, he will give him the shoes. Kagami protests that he has a match this afternoon, but Aomine says that they will keep it short. Plus, he also has to say something to him.

While they play, Momoi tells a stunned Kuroko that Aomine punched Haizaki to save Kise. Kuroko realizes that it would be bad if people find out about this. Momoi replies that it’s possible that Haizaki will change now—he wanted Aomine to stop him. Also, he was originally their Teiko teammate, so he can’t be all bad. Aomine then comes over; surprised, Momoi voices that the game ended quickly. Kuroko asks how it went—Aomine responds that it ended as he predicted-with his overwhelming victory. Annoyed, Kagami insists that he wants to try one more time—he can’t accept the shoes outright. After a little more of their light banter, Aomine tells Kagami he is fine the way he is, and both of them should get going.

Kuroko and Kagami arrive at the arena and apologize for being late. The game between Rakuzan and Shutoku is about to begin. Hyuuga explains that Rakuzan has won the Winter Cup five years in a row—this year’s lineup with Akashi as captain and three of the five Uncrowned Kings is especially formidable.